"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. Its the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells 'CAN'T', but you don't listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper, 'can'. And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are." ~unknown~

Sierra

Sierra

Thursday, June 11, 2009

We had a great turnout this evening, 20 I think. Dave proved to be king of the mountain today, and overall for the series, blazing the course and besting the FKT by 34 seconds, in an amazing 44:46. I ended up second in 46:43, a disappointing 53 seconds off PR. Early on my throat started getting pflegmy and I knew I just did not have it as I was hacking and not feeling as strong as I would have liked. Either way, it was a very fun run and a great turnout.

Running today did not look likely, as the afternoon deluge was in full swing, tornado warnings, hail, thunder, lightning. Oh well, gotta run a few errands in Boulder anyways, so I figured I would see what happens. My timing was perfect and the rain stopped just as I completed my errand. I was planning on Sanitas, but since I was closer to Chautauqua, I figured I would head in that direction. The air was cool and damp and the ground was soaked as I started up Gregory with no real plan. As I crested Gregory Canyon, I got off the beaten track and visited some vintage routes. I had not visited segment 1 of vintage route in years and it was awesome! The sun came out, everything was green and flowery, the dark clouds to the East looked purple and stood out in stark contrast to my immediate surroundings. I soon hit the Greenman trail, headed up Green via vintage segment 2 (big mistake), intersected the trail again and made it to the top in time to spy a nice rainbow to the East. I went SUPER easy, saving myself for the S. Boulder TT, but I felt awesome and wanted to run hard. I headed back down the front side, in a hurry to get home, but it was all I could do not to tack on another hour or more. This was one of those perfect evenings for running where it all comes together and you just don’t want it to end.